Move, shape and roll
Has upstart little Vancouver developed a design aesthetic all its own? Form your own opinion at the Vancouver Museum’s Movers and Shapers exhibition, on until June 22. The show features 20 locally based—and internationally known—jewellery, clothing, lighting, furniture, space, and building designers. Most are young; all are inspiring. The brainchild of Gastown-based designers Steven and Jane Cox (Cause+Affect), this is the third incarnation of Movers and Shapers—it appeared at the Home and Interior Design Show in 2004 and 2007. See www.causeandaffect.com/m+s/2008.html for more information.

Great bowls of fire
Want to start a fire in the city? Forget about it. We checked with the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service, and Dave Schwab e-mailed this no-nonsense reply: “Building a camp fire…and roasting a hot dog is not allowed on private or public property.” But if you’ve got money to burn, Vancouver’s Solus Decor offers a gorgeous handcrafted firebowl. Close to a metre in diameter, the $4,200 fire feature runs on gas or propane. It comes in four earth-toned cement colours to complement back yards or urban patios, and will keep your guests toasty on chilly evenings. Check out www.solusdecor.com/ for more groovy outdoor features.

Come with me, to the sea
Breathe some ocean air into your home with Coastal Style: Home Decorating Ideas Inspired by Seaside Living (Ryland, Peters & Small 2008; $33.95). This vividly hued book promotes beach-inspired colour palettes, inviting the outside in through collections of shells, sand-smoothed pebbles, and other flotsam. Although the look is more East Coast and tropical than rocky rain forest, there’s plenty of inspiration for B.C. homes.

Get the hang of it
Nothing tests math skills—and a relationship—like hanging pictures. Once you’ve hashed out the basics, let the Canadian-invented Hang & Level do the rest. Liette Tousignant, a Calgary-based interior decorator and founder of Under the Roof Decorating, created the tool when she couldn’t find something simple to get art hanging right the first time. After adjusting for the dimensions of your art, hold the piece where you want it, and the tool will mark the wall where you should bang in the nails. Ta da! At only $19.99, it just might save your marriage.

Dining icons
Cornflower Corningware is back. Did it ever leave? Evidently, the "iconic" blue cornflower pattern has been out of print for decades, but there’s a 50th-anniversary limited-edition run. The media release tries hard to tie the stove-to-freezer dishes to the postwar boom: "as iconic to the 1950s as poodle skirts, drive-ins and the dream of a white picket fence". But can 2008’s domestic divas dish up a Thai prawn curry in this stuff with a straight face? Or must once reserve the timid cornflower for ironically-served Coca-Cola-chicken casserole and hot-dog mac? Try your hostess hand for $50 for a four-piece set.

Fizzy pop
Back in 1982, New York Seltzer (out of California, of course) paved the way for a revival of the roarin’ ’20s nonalcoholic bubbly craze, a fad that has yet to peak. The latest incarnation, Fizzy Lizzie, has a refreshingly less sweet lineup: Yakima Valley Grape, Northern Lights Cranberry, Lone Star Grapefruit, and Costa Rican Pineapple feature "no gunk, no junk", according to the label. They’re made of just fruit juice and fizzy water, with no added sugar or preservatives, and come in hip, recyclable glass for about $1.50 a bottle. Visualize these on trays, by back yard lawn chairs and a pool.